Former Miami Hurricanes running back Storm Johnson will transfer to UCF, a source confirmed to ESPN Friday evening.

The 6-foot, 216-pound Johnson played in 10 games last season as a freshman at Miami. He ran for 119 yards on nine carries last fall for the Hurricanes. The Loganville, Ga., product was ranked as the nation's No. 22 overall recruit by ESPN in the class of 2010.

Johnson, who arrived on the UCF campus Thursday for an official visit, would have to sit out the 2011 season as per NCAA transfer rules, but he does have a redshirt season available.

9Miami HurricanesCommits: 15 ESPNU 150 Commits: 5 Top Prospect: WR Angelo Jean-LouisFive-star commits: 0 Four-star: 6 Three-star: 8 Others: 1
The Hurricanes have been really hot over the past two months with significant additions in WR Angelo Jean-Louis (Wellington, Fla./Palm Beach Central) and QB Preston Dewey (Austin, Texas/St. Andrews). The Under Armour All-Americans fill huge offensive needs for the Canes, who are in good shape along the offensive front and in the backfield. ATH Randy "Duke" Johnson (Miami/Norland) will likely end up as a cornerback, but could play on either side of the ball as he is a very good running back, as well. Top-10 CB Amos Leggett (Homestead, Fla./Homestead) fills a need with Brandon Harris departing to the NFL. Al Golden and his staff have hit the ground running and are turning in a nice early effort.

Just to follow up on the Mavericks TEAMe performance in NBA Finals. They clearly demonstrated the importance of TEAM, UNITY and THE SIGNIFICANCE OF EXECUTING YOUR ROLE TO BE CALLED A CHAMPION THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

I have attached a chart of the 2010 Canes and BCS participants. Obviously, the chart shows you that regardless of the team or conference, TALENT must be present to go to a BCS game. However, our experience should also teach us that if TALENT was the only factor, the 2010 Canes would have played in one of these games.

Talent is not enough! Toughness. Unity. Passion. Conditioning. FBI. Do the common things uncommonly well (fundamentals, block, tackle, 6 sec competitor, catch, protect the ball, takeaways, reduce penalties) and you will eliminate the things that cause teams to lose.

In other words, control the things that we can control. Control the things that require NO talent. If we can do that, our talent will flourish and impact the game.

Every coach is here for every one of you every day. Please let us know how we can help you.

"Miami's in my top now with Mississippi State and Tennessee," he said. "Miami was already in my top before the visit. And the visit helped them because I got to meet the coaches and players. They were cool."

He says not to expect a decision until around the middle of his season.

Sophomore running back Lamar Miller and senior wide receiver Travis Benjamin have been named to the College Football Performance Awards Special Teams Watch List for the 2011 season.

Benjamin was recognized as a punt returner, while Miller was included with the kick returners.

Miller is listed as one of 38 on the preseason list for the 2011 CFPA Kickoff Returner Trophy, while Benjamin is one of 35 punt returners to watch for nationally.
Last season, Miller ran back eight kickoffs for an average of 26.8 yards per return. His best return came at Ohio State, where he ran back a kick for an 88-yard touchdown against the Buckeyes.

Benjamin has shared punt return duties in each of his first three seasons with the Hurricanes, turning in a career-best 11.3 average as a freshman in 2008. Last season, he led the Canes in punt returns (23) and punt return yardage (106) and recorded the team's only punt return for a touchdown in a 79-yard return at Ohio State.

Last season, Leonard Hankerson earned Miami's first-ever College Football Performance Award as he was the recipient of the 2010 Elite Wide Receiver Trophy.

The 2011 Canes will open their season on Sept. 5 at Maryland. The 8 p.m. game will be televised live on ESPN.

Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas High School DL Jelani Hamilton took a visit to Miami on Saturday, spending time with coaches and touring the campus.

It was enough to convince Hamilton to be a Cane.

He called coaches tonight and gave his pledge.

"I'm real excited," Hamilton said. "It's a done deal. I went down on Saturday and had a great time.

"Miami was so close to home. It has my major of marine biology. Their football program has a lot of tradition, and that's very important."

Hamilton committed to coach Jethro Franklin.

"He's my position coach so he was the first one I told - he was ecstatic, happy," Hamilton said. "I'm just a real happy person right now."

Some have projected him as a tackle.

"The first thing we talked about when I went down there was the end spot," Hamilton said. "They haven't even talked about playing tackle. It's been end from the start."

Hamilton also spoke to Al Golden and Mark D'Onofrio this evening.

"They had nothing but good things to say," Hamilton said. "They were happy the waiting process was over, said that they were happy they had me."

At 6-foot-4 and 255 pounds, Hamilton fits exactly what the Hurricanes want in their new defense under D'Onofrio. He's big and athletic and could line up as a tackle on third-and-long situations to help get after the quarterback.

This morning Hamilton told his coach, Rocco Casullo, that he was thinking about committing to UM but that he wanted to talk to his parents about it. With his parents on board, Hamilton was all Cane.

Hamilton currently has 14 scholarship offers. He finished last season with six sacks playing tackle. This year he expects to play end.

"It's a big day for him; I'm excited for him," Casullo said. "He says this is the right fit for him and right choice. He was very excited after going down on Saturday. It's a done deal. He's a Hurricane. He said this was the best fit for him, that he wanted to get it done with.

"Jelani is very good. He's very fast, very athletic, very strong. In the end he could play inside or outside. He's very explosive, very long, works extremely hard in the weight room. He could be a very good future defensive lineman for the University of Miami."

Hamilton's goals at Miami?

"A national championship," Hamilton said. "That's what it's about. And winning the Lombardi, Heisman. But winning the national championship as a team is my goal. I'm a team player, put the team ahead of myself."

1)I like to dance a lot of time, just to have fun. My favorite artists are Lil’ Wayne and Rick Ross.

2)I like to cook for my mom when she’s tired. It depends on what I buy, but I like doing steak and shrimp. I love spaghetti, lasagna, and all Italian food. I don’t know how to make it, but my mom does.

3)I like to play video games too. NCAA and the NBA 2K’s are the ones I play most of the time.

4)I just got a Twitter, but I like Twitter better than Facebook. Half of the people on Facebook you don’t even really know.

5)I have a sister; she’s three years older than me. She’s 23.

6)I’ve got three best friends that I grew up with that I call brothers. Herman, Reggie and Jalani.

7)I like to have fun, but I love to compete. Mike [James] and I compete for everything.

8)When I first got here, waking up early for workouts and stuff, I wasn’t used to it. It was tough, but A.J, Mike and I used to help each other get up.

9)When I first started playing football, I played nose guard. I changed my position after a game when I picked up a fumble and ran past everybody for a touchdown.

10)I started playing football when I was eight years old. I was too big to play with my age group, so I always played with kids three years older than me.

11)I played a lot of sports growing up. I played baseball, basketball, and ran track. I even played volleyball for my middle school.

12)I’ve got seven tattoos. A few are my mom’s name, my grandmother’s name after she passed away, and “Fantastic Four” for my friends from home. I have my initials too. I got them all in high school.

13)I love Reggie Bush and Clinton Portis. I also watch a lot of film on Frank Gore, but Bush and Portis are my favorites.

14)When I was growing up, I used to always like Miami. My mom and dad always loved Florida, so I rooted for both teams. When Miami would play Florida, I would root for the Canes though. My mom’s from Gainesville, but now that I’m down here, she roots for us.

15)I like competition, because it makes me better and the people around me better. Competing makes it fun, going out there everyday and having fun while you’re doing it.

16)I used to be afraid of airplanes, but now I’m used to them after traveling all the time. I hate dogs. I’m scared of big dogs. Whenever I would walk home growing up, dogs used to chase me up the street, and I’ve always been scared.

17)Coach Richardson has taught me a lot of things I never knew before, on and off the field. Watching film, blocking schemes, how to take on a defender, ball security, everything.

18)If I wasn’t playing football, I’d probably be playing another sport…maybe track or basketball.

20)It’s good playing with all of the local Miami guys, because when it’s time to work, everyone competes. We have fun, but everybody competes. Playing against them in high school was tough, especially the Northwestern kids. They always used to knock us out of the playoffs. It makes all of us better, playing against each other.

21)I wasn’t friends with any of them really, but I knew them from playing against them. I met Marcus Forston when I was in 11th grade when he had committed to Miami and he talked to me about schools and where I was looking and stuff like that.

22)Some of my personal goals are over 150 all-purpose yards per game and to score two touchdowns per game. I want to win every game, win the ACC Coastal Division, and get to the National Championship.

23)I’m superstitious sometimes now. If I wore something the week before and had a good game, I’ll wear the same thing. If I had a bad game, I try to change it up and not do the same things I did the week before.

24)The kick-off return at Ohio State was the highlight of my career so far. It was only the second college game I had ever played in. I was having flashbacks to when I played Northwestern and I told my friends I was going to take a kick back this season. When they kicked it, I made a couple guys miss and ended up scoring.

25)I try to score every time I touch the ball. When I run the ball, I have to be patient and read the blockers and defensive scheme. On kick returns, you have to hit it and make guys miss.